Church Shopping

Sunday morning we had to make a short trip to the store to get some coffee mugs (I managed to bring everything else coffee related – coffee pot, filters, coffee – but forgot the mugs…) then we went to a local church to check it out.

This was really hard for us. Shopping for a new church is hard enough to do in itself, let alone finding one after leaving a church that we were SO connected in. We almost drove away once we got into the parking lot, but decided we had better at least give it a try. After spending a number of years at a very non-traditional church, we knew it was going to be difficult to find something that felt comfortable and this church was definitely traditional, and had a classic Pentecostal feel. At the door we were bombarded by “Welcome, God bless” and practically slapped with a Sunday bulletin. It was at this point when I turned to J* and told him we would not be attending here. We decided to stay for the service anyways; maybe we would be proved wrong? However, instincts being correct, we sat through what we call a “comfort me” message, full of moments that made us cringe. 

Another thing we knew would be difficult for us as we looked for a new church was the issue of our background. J* growing up in a Christian family, both of us attending a theological school, and being used to having  a plethora of church options that not only teach but challenge due to the number of theological colleges and universities in the area all work against us as we search. We are not average churchgoers. We know what we believe, we can easily pick out sketchy theology, and we need to be challenged. This limits our options greatly, especially in an area where there are not many options for theological education. So the search continues…

Later that afternoon we took Gus to the beach for his first ocean experience. He was a little nervous about the crashing waves at first, but soon realized that if he just jumped over white foam of the incoming waves on the sand, it was fine to go in.